1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a video material selecting apparatus and a method for selecting a video material, and more particularly, is preferably applicable to an edit decision list creating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the edit decision list creating device, the video of a video and audio material designated out of video and audio materials previously stored in a video server can be displayed on a monitor and sound can be outputted from a speaker.
Consequently, in the edit decision list creating device, an operator can create an edit decision list (EDL) for specifying the contents of edit, such as in which order and how video and audio materials are connected together, based on these video and sound.
In such edit decision list creating device, a keyword or the like is inputted so that the text information of a video and audio material, such as a file name or a title, corresponding thereto can be displayed on a screen out of a plurality of video and audio materials stored in a video server, and an operator can select the video and audio materials to be employed for editing based on the text information displayed on the screen.
However, in such edit decision list creating device, since only the text information of the video and audio material corresponding to the keyword or the like inputted can be displayed on the screen as described above, the operator needs to select a desired video and audio material while reproducing the video and audio materials one by one and conforming the contents of them when a plurality of similar text information are present in a plurality of video and audio materials selected. Therefore, the edit decision list creating device has been disadvantageously low in its operating efficiency.
In view of the foregoing, an object of this invention is to provide a video material selecting apparatus and a method for selecting video material in which the operating efficiency of the selecting work for a video material can be remarkably improved.
The foregoing objects and other objects of the invention have been achieved by the provision of a video material selecting apparatus which reads the video data and associated data of video materials which satisfy the inputted requirements out of the plurality of video materials from storing means and displays the reference image and associated information of each video material on a screen based on the video data and the associated data.
As a result, in the video material selecting apparatus, the operator can grasp the contents of each relevant video material based on the reference image and associated information of each of video materials which satisfy the requirements and which are displayed on the screen, and select a desired video material with ease.
Further, the present invention provides a method of selecting a video material to select a desired video material out of a plurality of video materials. In this method, the reference image and associated information of each of the video materials which satisfy the prescribed requirements can be displayed on a screen out of the plurality of video materials.
Consequently, according to the method for selecting a video material, the operator can grasp the contents of each relevant video material based on the reference image and associated information of each of video materials which satisfy the requirements and which are displayed on the screen and easily select a desired video material.
The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters.